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Leaching of silica bands and concentration of magnetite in Archean BIF by hypogene fluids: Beebyn Fe ore deposit, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

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Abstract

The ~2,752-Ma Weld Range greenstone belt in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia hosts several Fe ore deposits that provide insights into the role of early hypogene fluids in the formation of high-grade (>55 wt% Fe) magnetite-rich ore in banded iron formation (BIF). The 1.5-km-long Beebyn orebody comprises a series of steeply dipping, discontinuous, <50-m-thick lenses of magnetite–(martite)-rich ore zones in BIF that extend from surface to vertical depths of at least 250 m. The ore zones are enveloped by a 3-km-long, 150-m-wide outer halo of hypogene siderite and ferroan dolomite in BIF and mafic igneous country rocks. Ferroan chlorite characterises 20-m-wide proximal alteration zones in mafic country rocks. The magnetite-rich Beebyn orebody is primarily the product of hypogene fluids that circulated through reverse shear zones during the formation of an Archean isoclinal fold-and-thrust belt. Two discrete stages of hypogene fluid flow caused the pseudomorphic replacement of silica-rich bands in BIF by Stage 1 siderite and magnetite and later by Stage 2 ferroan dolomite. The resulting carbonate-altered BIF is markedly depleted in SiO2 and enriched in CaO, MgO, LOI, P2O5 and Fe2O3(total) compared with the least-altered BIF. Subsequent reactivation of these shear zones and circulation of hypogene fluids resulted in the leaching of existing hypogene carbonate minerals and the concentration of residual magnetite-rich bands. These Stage 3 magnetite-rich ore zones are depleted in SiO2 and enriched in K2O, CaO, MgO, P2O5 and Fe2O3(total) relative to the least-altered BIF. Proximal wall rock hypogene alteration zones in mafic igneous country rocks (up to 20 m from the BIF contact) are depleted in SiO2, CaO, Na2O, and K2O and are enriched in Fe2O3(total), MgO and P2O5 compared with distal zones. Recent supergene alteration affects all rocks within about 100 m below the present surface, disturbing hypogene mineral and the geochemical zonation patterns associated with magnetite-rich ore zones. The key vectors for identifying hypogene magnetite-rich Fe ore in weathered outcrop include textural changes in BIF (from thickly to thinly banded), crenulated bands and collapse breccias that indicate volume reduction. Useful indicators of hypogene ore in less weathered rocks include an outer carbonate–magnetite alteration halo in BIF and ferroan chlorite in mafic country rocks.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by Sinosteel Midwest Corporation. Peter Stockman and Denis Kruger, and a long list of Weld Range exploration and resource geologists, and field assistants, are thanked for their generous logistical support and for access to digital data. Chriss Schindler drafted Fig. 1, whereas Elizabeth Colgan and Seok-Jun Yang assisted with the polishing and imaging of hand specimens. The manuscript greatly benefited from comments received from Thomas Angerer and Tim Ivanic and official reviews by Jens Gutzmer, Roberto Xavier, Bernd Lehmann and an anonymous reviewer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Exploration Targeting, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Paul Duuring & Steffen Hagemann

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  1. Paul Duuring
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  2. Steffen Hagemann
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Correspondence to Paul Duuring.

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Editorial handling: R.P. Xavier

Electronic supplementary materials

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Online Resource 1

Whole-rock and trace element data for selected rocks at Beebyn (XLSX 91 kb)

Online Resource 2

Thin section photomicrographs of contact metamorphic aureoles in North BIF surrounding a basalt sill. a Distal area to the sill (1 m away): Fe oxide-rich bands in BIF contain agglomerates of irregularly shaped, fine- to coarse-grained magnetite. b Distal zone: Silica-rich bands contain fine-grained, disseminated hematite with patches of recrystallised metamorphic magnetite (now partly replaced by martite) and surrounded by recrystallised quartz. c Proximal zone in BIF located within 1 cm of a basaltic sill. Primary bands are preserved, but comprise coarse-grained, equant magnetite (martite) and quartz grains. d Proximal zone: Silica-rich bands contain metamorphic magnetite (martite) that are intergrown with recrystallised quartz. Thin section photomicrographs were taken in reflected plane-polarised light (a, c) and transmitted plane- (b) and cross-polarised light (d). Hem hematite, Mag magnetite, Mt martite, Qtz quartz (JPEG 169 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 8652 kb)

Online Resource 3

Averaged whole-rock and trace element data for main rock types at Beebyn (XLSX 32 kb)

Online Resource 4

Rare earth element data for the least-altered North BIF are normalised against values for chondrite (McDonough and Sun 1995) (a), an average value for post-Archean sedimentary rocks (PAAS) (McLennan 1989) (b), and the average composition of Superior-type BIF (McClung 2006) (c) (JPEG 109 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 13942 kb)

Online Resource 5

Rare earth element trends for mafic igneous country rocks surrounding the North BIF (normalised against the chondrite value of McDonough and Sun 1995) (JPEG 50 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 4905 kb)

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Duuring, P., Hagemann, S. Leaching of silica bands and concentration of magnetite in Archean BIF by hypogene fluids: Beebyn Fe ore deposit, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia. Miner Deposita 48, 341–370 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-012-0428-1

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